Duplicating punch press apparatus



July 24, 1934. s. G. PLUMMER DUPLICATING PUNCH PRESS APPARATUS Filed July 25, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet l Mllllllillll] IN V EN TOR. J/p/vs 7 GT PL l/MMEI? ATTORNEYS.

S. G. PLUMMER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 DUPLICATING PUNCH PRESS APPARATUS Filed July 25, 1935 July 24, 1934.

' IN E 510N576: PL UMMER A TTORNEYS.

Patented July 24, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 19 Claims.

This invention relates to the duplication of drilled or punched plates, beams, channels, angles, and other structural steel forms as used in steel frame buildings, bridges, and steel or '5 metal construction generally, where duplicatepunching or drilling of holes is required in many pieces. The principal object of the invention is to provide simple quickly operated apparatus to be used in connectionwith a standard punch press for accomplishing the results mentioned above. Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the following description and accompanying drawings.

Before describing the drawings and to make their meaning clearer, the invention may be said to be an arrangement of rolling frames or carriages, one rolling in one direction, and the other rolling on the first frame in a direction at right angles to the direction of travel of the first one;

so that a master plate with the desired holes in it may be clamped to the upper frame and by rolling both frames as may be required, any of the holes in the master plate may quickly be brought under a centering stylus which is forced into it and at once establishes its relation to a point on another or blank plate (also carried by the upper frame) with respect to the punch or drill of a press which then descends to make a similar hole in the blank. The master plate is left in its original position and is not used as a template above the new plate to be punched, and the descending centering stylus is conical and, when entering a hole in the master plate, itself forces and shifts the frames slightly to exact position before the punch is automatically operated. By this means a great many duplicate plates such as gussets, connecting plates and shapes generally requiring matched holes, may be quickly run off with a fraction of the labor and time required by the oldmethod of superimposing a template on a plate and drilling or punching through it.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a punch press with my apparatus in place.

Fig. 2 is a plan View of the combination of Fig. 1 showing the master plate on the upper frame and the new plate being punched to match. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the work level portion of Fig. 2 showing the relation of the stylus above the master plate and the punch above the new plate. I

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a punch press equipped with my apparatus arranged for handling long shapes such as channels, beams, angle irons, etc.

Fig. 5 is a reduced size side view of the press of Fig. 4 with parts in section as seen at the line 55 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged cross section of the 50 rolling carriages and operating apparatus as seen' from the line 6-6 of Fig. 4 showing angle bars in place for duplication.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged plan view partly in section of one end of the elongated rolling carriage or work support of Fig. 4 showing a special hole aligning clamp.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged cross section of the work support showing a pair of wide plates in place for duplicate punching. 76

Fig. 9 is a similar view to that of Fig. 8 but shows a pair of wide channel bars on the carriage.

Fig. 10 showsan extra support for wide work.

First, with reference to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, a conventional punch press is shown at 1, its clutch at 2, and its punch at 3 just over a plate 4 to be punched. This plate 4 is supported on a horizontal rollable frame or car-. riage 5 which extends into the throat of the 0 press and also carries to one side of the press a master plate 6 originally drilled or punched with the desired arrangement of holes 7. Both plates are clamped to the top of the frame as by clamps 8 which may be applied at any of 5 the-holes 9 around the margin of the frame, and in the present instance since the plates being operated on are smaller than the frame opening, one edge is supported on an adjustable cross frame bar 10 which is provided with an offset ledge 11 so as to preserve a uniform level for the work to lie upon, and the cross barsare also provided with one or more clamps 12 as may be necessary to hold the work. The under side of the plate to be punched is arranged to 95, just clear the upper surface of the punch die 13 so that when the punch comes down the spring of parts will enable it to seat upon the die.

Frame 5 is of oblong shape as shown and issupported on flanged rollers 14 carried by an under frame or carriage 15 for rolling back and forth in direction of its length in overhanging relation to the punch press die as best shown in Fig. 3, while the under frame 15 car'- ries flanged rollers 16 rolling on tracks '17 mounted on a suitable fixed support 18 so that the lower frame will roll in a direction at right angles to the direction which the upper frame 5 rolls upon'thelower frame or carriage. All of the rollers are preferably fitted with ball or justment of the parts roller bearings so that they will move with the slightest effort. While I show a lower carriage on one side only of the press, it is manifest that where a very long upper frame 5 is used, there may be a lower carriage on both ends of it.

The conical stylus which is used to center each hole of the master plate is indicated at 19 supported for vertical movement at a point over the area in which the master plate moves so that any hole in it may quickly be brought under the stylus by an operative pushing on the upper frame first to roll it in one direction, then in the other until the first hole to be punched is as nearly under it as can be without close observance and thereupon he presses a treadle 20 to force the point of the stylus downward into the hole. The stylus is, however, too large to enter the hole bodily but its tapered side striking the edge of the hole will force the frames to move as may be required to center the hole with the stylus, and thereafter only and upon a further slight depression of the pedal the punch press clutch is tripped and a corresponding hole in the blank plate is punched.

In order to carry out the above, the stylus 19 is mounted in a chuck at the lower end of a vertical shaft 21 slidable in spaced bearings 22 carried on a rigid bracket 23 secured to the side of the press and overhanging about the central position of the master plate carrying half of frame 5, To this vertical shaft is attached a collar 24 under which is a coiled spring 25 serving to raise the stylus to a position just above the master plate when the treadle 20 is released. To force the stylus downward, treadle 20 is extended as a lever or bar 26 pivoted at 2'7 to a floor pedestal and pivotally connected by means of an adjustable horizontally extending lever bar 29 pivoted at one end at 30 to the side of the press and forked at its other end at 31 to embrace the vertical shaft 21 just above collar 24 so that upon depressing the treadle the bar 29 will be pulled downward and the shaft carrying the stylus will also be forced downward. A weight 32 on a rearward extension of the treadle bar 26 serves to overbalance the heavy iron levers and restore the treadle and bar 29 td the upper position shown in the drawings.

It should be observed that when the stylus is tightly seated in a hole in the master plate, the spring of parts generally, and particularly the spring of long bar 29 will permit the treadle to be depressed still further, perhaps an inch or more, and advantage is taken of this fact to trip the press clutch 2 through this extra motion after the stylus is seated and must therefore have shifted the rolling frames slightly in order to perfectly center the hole under it. The connection to the press clutch is a vertical link 33 pivoted at one end to the treadle bar extension, and at the other to a bell crank 34 pivotally supported at the side of the press and provided with a roller 35 operating against a flange 36 of the movable clutch member in a manner to move it sufficiently to engage upon depressing the treadle, the proportions of the crank, link, treadle bar and points of pivoting and adbeing such that the engagement of the press clutch will not take place except upon a deliberate further depression of the treadle after the stylus'has become seated.

The foot of the operative is at once released from the treadle and upon automatic release of the press clutch at each revolution by any of the well-known kick-off devices used in punch press construction and not involved in the present invention, the clutch is thrown out to the spring bumper 37 or other impact cushioning device also not involved in the present invention.

In arranging the work (plate 4) upon the frame it is of course placed in the same lateral position with respect to the punch as the master plate 6 is in respect to the stylus and the clamps and/or bar 18 form stops so that subsequent plates will drop into the right position.

In using the apparatus any plate within the capacity of the rolling carriages and throat of the press may be punched with holes spaced precisely like those of the master plate, and all in a fraction of the time heretofore required when using a superimposed template, and at a fraction of the time necessary to set up gang punches, as well as at a much lower cost for equipment.

When it is desired to punch duplicate plates of great length, or channels, angles and beams, the carriages necessarily take a somewhat different form as shown in Figs. 4 to 9 and in which the press and its clutch tripping treadle hook-up are designated by the same numerals used above for the same parts functioning in the same way, but the upper work supporting carriage takes the form of a long horizontally disposed H beam 38 arranged with its end flanges standing as in Fig. 6 and against one of which a perforated master angle bar 39 is clamped as its by clamps 63 while the new angle bar 40 to be punched is clamped against the other preferably by a row of air-operated plunger clamps 41.

This H beam carriage extends across the front of the press with the die 13 close as possible to the flange of the beam, and it may be any length, depending on the length of the work being handled, the one in use by me being about 50 feet in length. It is supported on several sets of flanged wheels 42, each set of which is carried on a carriage flanged wheels 44 rollable on short rails 45 extending transversely of the beam carriage and secured to a foundation, frame, or floor 46, preferably on leveling screws 47, and the ends of the 43, itself mounted on I;

rails are turned up as indicated in Fig. 6 to limit the travel of the carriage to about the depth of throat of the press.

Carriages 43 are of any number and spaced along the ground for whatever distance is required to permit either end of the long carriage H beam to be brought to the die of the press, and since the beam and its work is very heavy a handwheel 48 is provided for operating it back and forth. This handwheel is mounted on a shaft 49 carried in bearing blocks mounted on the center carriage and is provided with sprockets 51 around which chains 52 extend respectively to the right and left to pass over further sprockets 53 on shafts 54 on the carriages and on which the flangedwheels 4 42 are secured, each carriage being thus connected by sprocket chains around the shafts or axles of its flanged wheels which support the H beam carriage above, all in a manner so that a turn to the right or left of handwheel 48 will correspondingly move the H beam yet the entire beam and its supporting carriages may be bodily moved transversely of the H beam by rolling the carriages on their rails 45.

. To effect the simultaneous rolling of the under 2. iii)! Carriages on their rails for moving the work in and out over the die of the press, I connect the forward rollers 44 of all of the carriages by ashaft to which they are keyed and I provide a ratchet lever 56 for turning the shaft.

either way for rolling the carriages back and forth. This ratchet lever is loose on shaft 55 and carries a pawl 57 which drops into a pinion 58 secured to the shaft. A hand grip 59 is provided for releasing the pawl so that a fresh grip can be taken without turning the lever 56 too far, and to avoid possible slipping of the Wheels on the rails a row of roller pins 60 is provided on the side of the rail and the flange of the carriage wheel is notched in the form of gear teeth 61 to positively engage the pins. By the means above described an operative can stand in front of the press and quickly roll the H beam carriage back and forth or longitudinally to any point. All bearings of the shafts, rollers, etc., being of anti-friction type.

In order to permit the H beam carriage to approach very closely to the press die, the nearest flange is planed away as shown at 62 in Figs. 6, 8 and 9, and even the forward edge of the die 13 is sometimes cut away to the minimum thickness required so that a hole can be punched close to the corner of an angle bar 40 clamped to the carriage H beam as indicated in Fig. 6, though it is manifest that where the extreme end of the angle bar is not to be punched the new bar could just as well be clamped at its ends to the outside of the standing flange of the H beam, andthus closer punchings could be made.

In Fig. 6 the master bar 39 is shown clamped to the H beam carriage by the screw clamps 63 bolted along the outside flange of the beam, and the new work or angle bar 40 is clamped against the inner side of the other flange by means of the air clamps 41 which are spaced along the carriage and simultaneously operated by compressed air from a pipe 78 supplied by a trailing hose, not shown, and under control of the operative by a conveniently situated twoway valve 79. The clamps are of the air plunger type, each provided with a spring 80 to release them to a stop 81 when the air is broken. In punching the first hole in the new bar it is brought up against a suitable stop clamped to thecarriage, not shown.

After one side is punched on the lot of bars to be made, the master bar is turned over to bring its other leg uppermost to serve as the master for punching the other leg of the work, and preferably a double conical-ended centering tool as shown in Fig. 7 is used in two end holes now existing so as to insure proper relation of the holes on both legs of the new bar and not have one row shifted with relation to the other. This tool is supported on a .pair of arms 83 pivotally mounted at 84 on a plate 85 attached to the H beam, and provided with a tapered centering pin or point 86 which is urged outward by a spring 87 so as to snap through a hole in the master plate 39 (beyond the end of the H beam) and another centering point 88 aligned with the first which may be forced by a cam lever 89 into a corresponding hole in the work.

Various kinds of clamps and bolting devices may be used for different kinds of work as indicated in Fig. 8 for the wide plate 64 to be punched from a master plate 65 both supported on a temporary plate or strips 66 provided with angles 67, 68 suitably bolted or clamped'to the H beam carriage, or the Wide channel 69 of Fig. 9 to be punched from the master channel 70 similarly supported in parallel relation along the carriage by suitable'jigs and clamps. The air clamps have the advantage of yielding slightly in the vicinity of the part of a long shape being punched so as to permit it to seat against the die of the press without straining the parts.

In both Figs. 8 and 9 where the work consists of wide platesor structural shapes overhanging .the supporting carriage to any extent, I may place extra supporting rollers 71 under the overhanging edges. These rollers are carried on separate brackets 72 each supported across a carriage frame 43 so as to move with it, and they are preferably adjustable in height on adjusting bolts 82 so that they will properly support the overhanging work. Such extra supports may be placed on the ground if desired, but would then take the shape of inverted ball casters as shown at '73 in Fig. 10 so as to give freedom to the movement of the plates in both directions.

The stylus 19 for this long carriage press is shown mounted just in front of the punch 3 of the press, and is carried on a vertical shaft 21 as before in bearings 22 secured to the press, and while the treadle 20 and its associated elements 26, 27, 28, and 32 to 37, are as previously described. the connection to the stylus shaft is somewhat diiferent as in this case rod 28 connects pivotally to a bell crank 74 in turn connected by link 75 to another bell crank 76 which is forked around shaft 21 and upon depressing the treadle 20 this last bell crank pushes downward on a heavy spring 77 which is positioned around the shaft above collar 24 so that the compression of this heavy spring compresses the lighter spring 25 below the collar to thus resiliently force the stylus downward and yet permit a further movement of the treadle after the stylus is well seated and has centralized the hole in the master plate or bar if not already perfectly centered by the eye of the workman operating the apparatus.

From the above description it is manifest that other variations of applying the principle explained may readily be devised now that I have disclosed what is required and two simple methods of achieving it, and the extra motion of the foot treadle may make an electric contact to trip the press clutch but I prefer purely mechanical hook-ups for the rough usage in punch press work as they virtually never get out of order.

Also, while the description is to the use of the apparatus with a punch press for making the holes, it is manifest that it is equally adaptable for use with a drill press, the operation being the same, and, therefore, where I use the words punch press, punching, or punch in my claims, it is understood to cover drill press, drilling, or drill, as well. Also, since the apparatus operates on all kinds of shapes, the Words fmastei' plate or blank used in the claims is intended to cover all forms of work.

It is also evident from the above disclosure that many variations in details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention, and as may be included within the scope of my appended claims.

I therefore claimzj 1. In a duplicating punch press arranged to 4 operateon a blank plate from points on a master plate, means for resiliently clamping the blank plate in place whereby it may yield to seat upon the press die.

2'. In a duplicating punch press arranged to operate on a blank plate from points on a master plate, compressed air-operated clamps for resiliently clamping the blank plate in place whereby it may yield to seat upon the press die.

3. In a duplicating punch press arranged to operate on a blank plate from points on a master plate, a plurality of simultaneously operated compressed air clamps for resiliently clamping the blank plate in place whereby it may yield to seat upon the press die.

4. Duplicating punch press apparatus comprising a carriage adjacent a punch press arranged and adapted to support a master perforated plate and a blank in laterally spaced relation with the blank under the punch, means adapting the carriage to be moved in two directions so as to bring any desired point on the blank under the punch, a stylus supported for vertical movement over the master plate for aligning with its perforations successively upon moving the carriage preparatory to tripping the press, and means for lowering the stylus successively into the perforations of the master plate comprising a manually operated press clutch trip and connection between the vertically movable stylus arranged to force same into the hole tightly before tripping the clutch.

5. Duplicating punch pressapparatus comprising a carriage adjacent a punch press arranged and adapted to support a master perforated plate and a blank in laterally spaced relation with the blank under the punch, means adapting the carriage to be moved in two directions so as to bring any desired point on the blank under the punch, a stylus supported for vertical movement over the master plate for aligning with its erforations successively upon moving the carriage preparatory to tripping the press, means for lowering the stylus successively into the perforations of the master plate comprising a foot lever, means connecting the lever to the stylus, and means connected to the press trip for operating the same and means for insuring the press trip to actuate only after the stylus has been lowered into a perforation.

6. Duplicating punch press apparatus comprising a carriage adjacent a punch press arranged and adapted to support a master perforated plate and a blank in laterally spaced relation with the blank under the punch, said carriage comprising a long horizontally disposed beam extending transversely across the front of the press, roller means supporting said beam for rolling in a longitudinal direction, means for clamping the blank along the edge of the beam nearest the press to extend away from the beam into the throat of the press, and means for clamping the master plate along the outer edge of the beam, and a stylus carried by the press extending above and adjacent to the master plate.

'7. Duplicating punch press apparatus comprising a carriage adjacent a punch press arranged and adapted to support a master perforated plate and a blank in laterally spaced relation with the blank under the punch, said carriage comprising a long horizontally disposed beam extending transversely across the front of the press, roller means supporting said beam for rolling in a longitudinal direction, means supporting said roller means andcbeam for rolling in a direction at right angles to the longitudinal travel of the beam, means for clamping the blank along the edge of the beam nearest the press to extend away from the beam into the throat of the press, and means for clamping the master plate along the outer edge of the beam, and a stylus carried by the press extending above and adjacent to the master plate.

8. In a construction as specified in claim 7, means accessible to an operative in front of the press for moving the beam in either direction.

9. In a construction as specified in claim 6, said beam being of H section with the lower legs supported on rollers and the upper legs respectively arranged to receive the blank and the master plate.

10. Duplicating punch press apparatus comprising a carriage adjacent a punch press arranged and adapted to support a master perforated plate and a blank in laterally spaced relation with the blank under the punch, said carriage comprising a long horizontally disposed beam extending transversely across the front of the press, roller means supporting said beam for rolling in a longitudinal direction, means for clamping the blank along one side of the beam to extend into the throat of the press and the master plate along the outer edge of the beam, and a stylus carried by the press extending above and adjacent to the master plate, the means for clamping the blank comprising a row of pneumatic clamps along the beam arranged to clamp the blank thereto.

11. Duplicating punch press apparatus comprising a carriage adjacent a punch press arranged and adapted to support a master perforated plate and a blank in laterally spaced relation with the blank under the punch, said carriage comprising a long horizontally disposed beam extending transversely across the front of the press, roller means supporting said beam for rolling in a longitudinal direction, means supporting said roller means and beam for rolling in a direction at right angles to the longitudinal travel of the beam, means for clamping the blank along one side of the beam tov extend into the throat of the press and the master plate along the outer edge of the beam, and a stylus carried by the press extending above and adjacent to the master plate, the means supporting the roller means and beam for rolling comprising spaced carriages under the beam provided with rollers upon which the beam rolls, supporting rollers under the carriages directed transversely of the beam, fixed tracks upon. which the latter rollers travel, and means for forcing all the carriages to move simultaneously as a unit.

12. Duplicating punch press apparatus coniprising a carriage adjacent a punch press arranged and adapted to support a master perforated plate and a blank in laterally spaced relation with the blank under the punch, said carriage comprising a long horizontally disposed beam extending transversely across the front oi the press, roller means supporting said beam for rolling in a longitudinal direction, means for clamping the blank along one side of the beam to extend into the throat of the press and the master plate along the outer edge of the bearrnand a stylus carried by the press extending above and adjacent to the master plate, and auxiliary means spaced along the beam arranged and adapted to provide rolling support to the overhanging margin of a wide blank carried by beam.

13. In a duplicating punch press of the character described, means for aligning a hole in the template with a hole in the work comprising a pair of aligned centering pins, a block in which the styli are mounted and from which they extend in opposite directions, and means for urging the styli in opposite directions relatively to each other for impinging into a hole in the template and a corresponding hole in the work respectively.

14. In a duplicating punch press of the character described, a combined template and worksupporting carriage comprising a long horizontally arranged beam extending transversely across the front of the press, means for clamping the work and the template in parallel arrangement along opposite edges respectively of the beam, a plurality of carriages under said beam provided with rollers upon which the beam is supported for longitudinal rolling movement, means for manually turning the rollers of said carriages whereby the beam is moved, and wheels on the carriages rollable on fixed tracks extending transversely of the beam.

15. In a duplicating punch press of the character described, a combined template and worksupporting carriage comprising a long horizontally arranged beam extending transversely across the front of the press, means for clamping the work and thevtemplate in parallel arrangement along opposite edges respectively of the beam, a plurality of carriages under said beam provided with rollers upon which thebeam is supported for longitudinal rolling movement, means for manually turning the rollers of said carriages whereby the beam is moved, and wheels on the carriages rollable on fixed tracks extending transversely of the beam; and manually operated means for turning some of said wheels of a plurality of the carriages simultaneously for rolling the carriages back and forth on said tracks.

16. In a duplicating punch press of the character described, a combined template and Worksupporting carriage comprising a long horizon-- tally arranged beam extending transversely across the front of the press, means for clamping the work and the template in parallel arrangement along opposite edges respectively of the beam, a plurality of carriages under said 3 beam provided with rollers upon which the beam is supported for longitudinal rolling movement, means for manually turning the rollers of said carriages whereby the beam is moved, and wheels on the carriages rollable on fixed tracks extending transversely of the beam, and manually operated means for turning some of said wheels of a plurality of the carriages simultaneously for rolling the carriages back and forth on said tracks, and pinions connected to the manually turnable wheels engaging rack teeth on said tracks.

17. In a structure as specified in claim 16, idler rollers carried by said carriages arranged to support overhanging work from said beam and revolvable in a plane parallel therewith.

18. In a duplicating punch press provided with means for supporting the work plate and a perforated master plate in laterally spaced relation while adapting the two plates to be moved as a unit for adjusting relative to the punch, a vertically movable stylus. arranged over the master plate and provided with a conical nose of larger diameter than the holes in the master plate adapted to be lowered into the holes to seat tightly therein and stop, ated lever means arranged for forcing the stylus to seat in the holes of the master plate as they are suocesively brought to position under it, and a connection from said lever means to the clutch trip of the press arranged to be operated by further manual forcing on lever means after tight seating of the stylus only.

19. In a duplicating punch press provided with means for supporting the work plate and a perforated master plate in laterally spaced relation while adapting the two plates to be moved as a unit for adjusting relative to the punch, a vertically movable stylus arranged over the master plate and provided with a conical nose or" larger diameter than the holes in the master plate adapted to be lowered into the holes to seat tightly therein and stop, manually operated lever means arranged for forcing the stylus to seat the holes of the master plate as they are successively brought to position under it, and a connection from said lever means to the clutch trip of the press arranged to be operated through spring of parts by further manual forcing on lever means after tight seating of the stylus only.

SIDNEY G. PLUMMER. 

